Solar storms warning puts world on alert

A peak in the Sun's 10-year activity cycle could put the Earth at risk from disruptive solar storms.

Power grids, satellites and communications systems could all be at risk, prompting world governments to take precautions in case the worst does happen. While such events are rare, solar storms are becoming increasingly prominent on national risk registers alongside tsunamis and volcanoes. The last major solar storm to hit us occurred 150 years ago with a 12% risk every ten years.

Even smaller storms can cause problems - in 1989 a solar storm was blamed for knocking out power in Quebec which resulted in a blackout for several million people lasting nine hours.

"Power grids, communications and satellites could be knocked out by a massive solar storm in the next two years, scientists warn."

Doubt it, the Indian power grid did not hold pace with the development of the country. Happens when politicians (as most power generation there is government controlled) just keep adding power consuming infrastructure and no new power lines and generators. I know. In the past, in the 80s and 90s power cascading failures was common. A power cascade failure itself is what had happened in Northern India. Some states drew more power than was allowed which collapsed one grid, which in turn collapsed another grid and so on. I work in the power field. When i worked in India, We used to be called in t... [More]

These things always sound to be a bit like Mercury retrograde; they always say that it will lead to Dramatic things, and they either rarely do, or if anything does go on the blink, it's handy all-purpose explanation. "Not our fault, it's Solar storms, dontchaknow."

Though "pitched" as a scare-article, there is quite a bit of detailed information in this article, plus videos: -=-=-=- Scientists Warn of Possible Apocalypse from Solar Storms ... solar storms could be a serious threat to mankind around 2012 as the sun moves into an active period called solar maximum. ... could destroy some 300 or more transformers here on earth costing trillions and possibly killing millions in the process. The solar maximum period of the sun is expected to reach its peak in 2013 and experts say there is about a 12 percent chance of a solar superstorm wreaking havoc here on ... [More]